1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a shipping container for furniture. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus for shipping the partially assembled components of a modular wheeled health care chair.
2. Discussion
In an attempt to manage ever increasing health care costs, more and more individuals are electing to be provided with health care services within their own home. As such, there is a growing need for medical devices and health care products which can be used in a residential environment, and efficient channels for delivering these devices. However, there appears to be a limited number of channels through which these home health care products are currently made available to consumers. An additional problem is that the relatively few number of retail establishments which provide suitable home health care products cannot be easily accessed by disabled individuals who have difficulty traveling outside their home. One such example is a disabled individual who can only be transported in a wheel chair.
Wheeled chairs are widely used in a variety of both residential and commercial health care applications, and as such, are adapted to mobilize the seat occupant under a wide range of conditions. Most of the wheel chairs known in the prior art are designed toward the mobility of the seat occupant, and less toward the functionality and comfort of the seat occupant. At present, wheeled chairs for specialized purposes are typically only available through specialty medical products channels and are usually quite expensive. Moreover, the prior art wheel chairs which incorporate comfort features are generally heavier and cannot be easily transported. The total weight of these chairs, even when disassembled, generally requires that they must be shipped to individuals as freight as with other heavy or bulky furniture products, rather than being shipped as a parcel or package through commercial parcel delivery services. The cost associated with shipping a suitable wheel chair as freight is typically higher than the cost of shipping a suitable wheel chair as a parcel. Moreover, shipping the chair as freight takes considerably more time. A further problem is that many parcel delivery services set limitations for the total weight of a parcel, as well as the external dimensions of the shipping carton for containing the parcel. Thus, the wheel chairs known within the art which provide a suitable level of comfort features are either too heavy, or if modular, are not packaged within a suitable container which is acceptable to commercial parcel delivery services. As such, these wheel chairs must be shipped with a freight carrier at a higher cost to the consumer and a longer time for delivery.
In view of the problems associated with prior art wheel chairs, it is desirable to provide a shipping apparatus and container system for shipping the partially assembled components of a modular wheel chair. One such approach is to provide a modular wheel chair which can be easily assembled and disassembled using a limited number of simple hand operated tools. It is further desirable to provide a shipping container which is lightweight and compactly dimensioned so that the shipping container or containers can be handled by lower cost parcel delivery services as opposed to higher cost freight carriers. Finally, it is desirable to provide a shipping apparatus having a system of interlocking pallets for containing the partially assembled components and providing suitable protection to these components during shipping. The combination of such a modular wheel chair and lightweight shipping container would significantly increase the availability of wheeled health care chairs to disabled individuals within their own homes. Moreover, a lightweight shipping container would further allow the shipping of partially assembled wheel chairs on an expedited or overnight basis.